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Celebrate Recovery is a safe place with kind people who are working together to deal with hurts, habits, and hangups. Have questions? Contact our CR Leader - Tim Hughey

AWANA is our Wed night program full of fun, friends, and learning God's Scriptures. Have questions? Contact our Children's Coordinator - Shannon Curtis

Check our website for upcoming events and over 530 past teachings on many different topics.

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God created people to be His unique image-bearers, created to have children and point them to HIM. Today we're challenged to Set the Pace for the Race as our little ones follow in our footsteps.

God created people to be His unique image-bearers, to rule & steward everything on the planet, created to have children and point them to HIM, to set the pace for the race for the little ones who follow in our footsteps.   We have the great privilege to influence children to know their Creator.

Like it or not, you and I are products of our environment...and if it’s true that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, our children won’t go much further than we do, because...children imitate what parents demonstrate.

• The toughest part of being a parent is not just LOVING the child well, but LEADING the child well. Godly parents...set the Pace as models for their children & grandchildren to follow years later.

Catch the Context

Moses is close to death and he gives a synopsis of the teachings and events of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers in a writing called Deuteronomy (meaning “second law”). In these parting words, Moses reminds parents & grandparents of their role & responsibility to children & to God. They have the responsibility to set the pace for the race.

Jesus points to this command - loving God - as “the first and greatest commandment” (Mat 22:37-38). This is the heartbeat of all the biblical Scriptures. Loving God is demonstrated by TRUST that leads to OBEDIENCE. In fact, there is a test you can take to determine whether you love God or not. 

When you love Jesus, you TRUST Him, and when you trust Him, His commands aren’t words of law, but words of life! Suddenly, obeying God is not a burden or a barrier, but a blessing.

• How many poor decisions & painful consequences could we have bypassed if we trusted that our parents’ commands were actually to HELP us and not to HARM us? 
• Are God’s commands a BURDEN, BARRIER, or a BLESSING in your life?
• Do our kids/grandkids or other children we influence see us loving & trusting God through OUR OBEDIENCE?
• Your expectations will rarely outrun your example.

Let’s LEAD THEM to LOVE HIM! 

Parents were to teach God’s commands to their children, to talk of who God is, what He has done, & what He expects - anytime, anywhere. Further, the people were to use visible symbols reminding them of God’s Presence & commands. WHY? People with all kinds of FALSE GODS are clamoring for our children’s attention, but we want lead them to Him - the One True God.

2 responses to “Parents shouldn’t brain wash their kids.”

1. There is a battle for our children’s minds going on in our culture and if we don’t influence them, someone else WILL.
2. Good parents force their children to do things they don’t want to do, for their own good (e.g. brush teeth).

Don’t leave this great task up to somebody else! Let’s lead them to Love Him!

Eugene H. Merrill writes about the word translated “impress": 

The image is that of the engraver of a monument who takes hammer and chisel in hand and with painstaking care etches a text into the face of a solid slab of granite. The sheer labor of such a task is daunting indeed, but once done the message is there to stay. Thus it is that the generations of Israelites to come must receive and transmit the words of the Lord’s everlasting covenant revelation.

Patēres (Greek) translated fathers usually refers to male parents and was sometimes used of parents. Since Paul has been writing about both parents in the preceding verses it is likely that he still has both in mind in this term in verse 4. (The same word is used in Hebrews 11:23 to refer to Moses’ parents.)

• Are you consistently teaching the children you influence about who the Lord Jesus is and what He has done? 

Bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Train them and instruct them about WHO God is and WHAT God says. Don’t leave it up to somebody else! That’s YOUR job!

The Lord has left us an incredible responsibility, and He will empower us to do what He expects us to do.

BIG TRUTH: Let’s LEAD THEM to LOVE HIM! 

Seek God daily. Get in the Scriptures. Pray. Honor the Lord in your daily decisions. 

Start the Conversation about God’s goodness. Talk about God’s goodness…every day! Remind them of WHO God is and WHAT God says. Open the Scriptures and read to them. Tell them what God has taught you.

3) Show them HOW to obey Him! Don’t just tell them what to do. Show them how! Don’t be a hypocrite!

Howard Hendricks wrote: "If it ain't happening in your life, by all means, don't export it."

Abraham Lincoln was asked, "What is the greatest book you've ever read?" he succinctly replied, "My Mother!"

Need Some Help?

• A follower of Jesus, but you don’t know where to start? Ask a mature believer for some help. Check out our Groups on Sunday 10am or Wed Night Guys/Ladies Group 6:30pm. 
• NOT yet a follower of Jesus, and you have questions? Ask us or another real follower of Jesus.

Take some time to discuss these questions with your family, friends, or group.

discussionquestions

Take some time to discuss these questions with your family, friends, or group.

1. What challenged or encouraged you most from today’s teaching? Explain your answer.
2. Read Deut 6:4-9. How are parents to model what it means to follow the One True God? What would you say to the parent who says they live their faith but they never talk about their faith? Can you share a story about a parent or other adult who engaged YOU with spiritual conversations about God’s goodness and commands.
3. Read 1 John 5:3 & John 14:23–24. What does obedience to God’s laws communicate to Him & to others?Some say, “It’s all about loving God, and obeying commands is just a bunch of legalism.” Does that seem to be what John thought? Explain your answer.
4. Read Ephesians 6:4. Share some practical ways that parents and adults who influence children can obey this command. What’s the result if we DON’T obey this command?
5. What other questions has this teaching or discussion prompted for us to talk about?
6. Share prayer needs and pray for one another. Continue to pray for our Supreme Court decision on Roe v Wade. Pray for Christians in Ukraine and Russia to carry the message of Jesus with them wherever they go. Also, PRAY that God will greatly use us to impact people who need to follow Jesus.